Blood Lust
by SisiDraig
Summary: Tom x Hal  coz I'm weak and can't resist .  Just a little slashy fic.  "Tom was getting too close, making him feel things he couldn't afford to feel, the sort of things that could get them both killed."
1. Annie's Little Push

**Hi Tom and Hal slash bandwagon, mind if I jump on?**

**So yeah, I'm addicted to Being Human, I would happily watch an entire series of just Hal and Tom working in that cafe and trying to work out the mystery that is girls. In my story however, because I'm a hopeless addict of slash, they just have to work out the mystery that is each other. I hope you enjoy...!**

**D/C: Not for profit use of the characters of Being Human - don't sue me, I have no money. Also, begging Morrisey not to sue me for use of his lyrics!**

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><p>'And your guess?' Hal asked Tom, as the expert on TV got ready to tell the price of the ugly vase to it's owner.<p>

'Dunna,' Tom shrugged. He'd been distracted all day, besides, he'd never beaten Hal at this game. The Vampire was a master of all things antique, but then he was 500 years old. He'd been around a bit. 'You're cheatin' anywa. You probably owned it or somethin.'

'Not that,' Hal shook his head disgustedly. 'It's practically worthless.'

'Just £100,' the man on the TV confirmed.

'More than I make in a day,' Tom said.

'But not as much, I fear, as that woman was expecting,' Hal chuckled a little to himself at her utter disappointment and then reached for the remote and muted the TV. He turned to stare at his young companion.

'Wha?' Tom asked, sinking back a little in the sofa defensively.

'Are you going to tell me what is bothering you?'

'Nah, nothing's bothering me. I'm alrigh.'

Hal's eyes narrowed a little as he considered him for a few seconds. 'Very well,' he muttered eventually, pushing himself to his feet and moving steadily towards the kitchen.

He always did everything steadily. It had come from years of being important and being taught how to present yourself. It had come from being Lord Harry, more feared than any ruler. The man could barely even slouch. He glanced over his shoulder to Tom. Tom could slouch. He was slouching now, his back curled up and his neck flat against the sofa so that his chin was pressed against his chest. It seemed uncomfortable but Tom didn't look uncomfortable, he was just turning the TV volume back up.

'Two tha-sand,' Tom predicted.

'More,' Hal muttered to himself. 'Much more. More like five, in fact.' And as the antiques specialist confirmed his theory, he allowed the kitchen doors to swing shut behind him.

'It's nice that you two are getting on so well now.'

Hal jumped out of his skin. He'd thought Annie was upstairs with baby Eve, but there she was sat on the kitchen counter staring at him. Hal thought briefly about the germs that sitting on the counter would leave before deciding that her being a ghost, probably meant germs weren't a problem and his being a vampire meant they wouldn't affect him anyway. And Tom? Well, Hal had witnessed him eating things that had fallen on the floor declaring something obscure called a 'ten second rule'.

'Yes,' was all the response Hal gifted to Annie. He wasn't really sure what she was trying to imply with her statement but he was sure it was something from the giddy look on her face. He ignored her and went to wash the dishes. He was certain Tom wouldn't remember to do them, despite it being his turn on the rota. Tom was far too busy trying to work out the exact location of his swimming pool.

'Ooo, marigolds again,' Annie said with an excitable chuckle, as he pulled the yellow gloves onto his hands. 'How very … butch!'

Hal glanced at her and frowned but he didn't say anything. Knowing Annie, he wouldn't need to. If she had something on her mind, he'd soon know about it.

'You're not very though, Hal, are you?'

'Not very … what?' he demanded.

'Butch,' she said, pulling a pose to demonstrate the meaning of the word. 'You wear marigolds, you sing "Reach Out, I'll be there" when you think no one's listening.'

'Classic 60's Motown,' Hal retorted quickly.

'All I'm saying,' Annie continued as though the interruption hadn't occurred, 'is you can come across a bit….'

'A bit … what?'

'You know.'

'I can assure you, I don't.'

'Gay,' Annie whispered.

They looked at each other and the word hung between them, making Annie more and more uncomfortable by the second.

'I am nothing of the sort,' Hal said eventually, turning away from her and returning to the dishes. He dunked the first one into the water a little bit too vigorously, chipping the side on the bottom of the sink. No matter, he'd make sure Tom always had that plate, the boy always demolished his food so quickly he'd never have time to notice a tiny chip. Hal would notice, it would consume him in its imperfection, anger him. He washed it quickly and placed it on the drying rack with the chip away from him. If he couldn't see it, it wouldn't be so bad.

'You must have tried it though,' Annie said after a moment or two. 'At some point.'

'Tried what?'

'Being gay.'

'Are we still on with this!' Hal snapped. 'No, I have never tried it and I never will.'

'But you're five-_hundred _years old!' Annie cried in disbelief.

'What does that have to do with anything?'

'Well I was only alive for….' She stopped suddenly and glanced at Hal. 'For not that long,' she coughed and he smiled. In Hal's experience a woman's age was the most safely guarded secret of all. Far more so than the secret that the undead existed. 'But I tried it … at University … with a girl called Kelly.' She clasped her hands together. 'Oh,' she adopted her girlish giggle again. 'That's embarrassing.' Hal's lack of response seemed to pressure Annie into elaborating. 'We didn't actually _do _anything,' she continued. And Hal was sure that if she weren't dead, she'd have been blushing. 'Well, we kissed, but that was it.' A slight pause, still no response from Hal. 'It was quite nice,' she said again. And: 'At least, I think it was. It was a long time ago now.'

'Right,' Hal finally spoke, allowing her to stop trying to fill the awkward pauses. 'Annie,' he said after a moment as he finished another couple of plates. 'Are you trying to tell me that you kissed a girl and, indeed, liked it?'

Annie just stared at the vampire in disbelief. 'Are you quoting Katy Perry?' she demanded. 'Five hundred years old and you're quoting Katy Perry.'

'I'll have you know I'm very, how do you say it? _Down with the kids_.' His hands made some kind of weird hip-hop-ish movement, which caused Annie to smile a little and for Hal to frown. He didn't like to feel foolish, even when he'd brought it on himself. He turned back to the dishes and began to hum a tune, then whistle it until finally he was singing:

'_I kissed a girl and I liked it…_'

'Then you bit her neck and drank her blood, eh?' Tom's voice sounded from the doorway. Hal snapped around to look at him, his muscles visibly relaxing when he saw the cheeky smile on the young man's face.

'Not for a long time,' Hal muttered.

'Because you ain't been near any pretty girls for a long time,' Tom retorted.

'I do not need pretty girls,' Hal said firmly. 'I have you and Annie and…' He turned back to the sink: 'I have the dishes.'

'I think I'd rather have a pretty girl than dirty dishes,' Tom said but he seemed to have to take his time in deciding.

'So would Annie,' Hal said easily, a smile pulling at his cheeks. He could feel Annie's embarrassment and hear the excitement in Tom's voice as he asked: 'Would ya?'

::

They were alone at dinner. Hal had cooked because it was written on his rota. He wasn't really that bothered about eating. He could eat, it filled a hole which would be better filled with blood. He needed the juices of a rare steak or pork to keep him alive but he didn't enjoy eating particularly. Not like Tom.

'This is my favourite thing you cook,' Tom said, tearing into his medium-rare peppered steak.

'You eat like a hound,' Hal said, unimpressed.

'You eat like a vegetarian vampire,' Tom replied, nodding at Hal's own meal. The steak had barely been licked by the flames before he'd put it on his plate and he hadn't bothered with vegetables.

'I am,' Hal reminded him, as though Tom needed reminding. And after a moment or two of watching Tom destroy his meal: 'Where's Annie?'

'With baby Eve,' Tom said.

'I don't hear her crying.'

'She said, she thought me an' you could do with some time by ourselves.'

'Time by ourselves?' Hal repeated with a bitter laugh. 'I'm never not with you. We live together, we work together, we go to the pub together. The only way I could spend more time with you is if we-.' He stopped abruptly. 'Never mind,' he muttered, pushing his plate away from him. Suddenly, he didn't feel hungry.

'I dan't mind it,' Tom said in that free liberated way he had of speaking. He never seemed to censor himself for fear of being ridiculed or judged. It was one of the things Hal admired about him, the way everything just poured out of him. If you looked at him, you could tell in an instant just how he was feeling. Stupid people would read it as his being simple but Hal knew it was more than that. It was innocence, something that not many werewolves held on to. Especially not one's like Tom McNair, infamous in the vampire world as a cold-blooded killer. But somehow Tom _was _innocent and Hal had a weird urge to protect that and even more than that, he had an urge to protect him when people questioned Tom's intelligence. As far as Hal was concerned, if they couldn't see Tom for what he really was, then they didn't deserve to know him at all.

'I dan't,' Tom repeated. 'I like hanging around with ya. You make me laf.'

'Hmmm,' Hal frowned. He did not make it his business to make people laugh and he disliked the idea that anyone, even Tom, found him a joke.

'In a good way though,' Tom said quickly. 'Smile more than laugh,' he continued to correct himself. 'All your funny little tasks and tha'

'My funny little….' Hal hissed. He was inexplicably angry. Tom suddenly didn't seem to know him at all. 'It's those funny little tasks that keep me sane.'

'I kna,' Tom said quickly, with the body language of a man who was rapidly losing control of a situation. 'I wanna say about that. I think you're doing really well, mate. Proper well.'

'Well,' Hal felt his anger seeping away as he pulled his plate back towards him. 'Thank you.'

'I didn't mean to offend ya or out.'

'I'm not offended,' Hal said and it was almost the truth.

'I'm just saying, I like spending time with ya. You're my best friend.'

'Er, yes. Thank you.' Hal wanted to say something nice back but he wasn't sure what and it made him trip over his words. 'I also, erm, enjoy our er … fellowship, er friendship.'

'Righ',' Tom just nodded, clueless and bright eyed. He downed his cola quickly and Hal felt immediately anxious. Tom had been known, on occasion, to become a little over-excitable on the caffeinated drink, which was saying something for someone who was excited and amused by the way David Dickinson popped up on Dickinson's real deal to advise on antiques. Hal wondered briefly weather he'd influenced Tom's choice of television programme a little too much. It probably wasn't right for a 21 year old to spend so much time watching old people flogging semi-pricey antiques at auction. But he was brought out of this thought process when suddenly he heard Tom say:

'What were ya gonna say?'

'When?' Hal frowned, unable to fathom what the young man could be talking about.

'Before,' Tom replied as though that cleared things up.

Hal just frowned.

'When ya said the only time we could spend more time together is if we….'

Hal would have blushed had he still had the capacity to.

'There is nothing,' Hal said quickly. A little too quickly, most people might have recognised that he was lying. Tom didn't seem to. 'I realised there's no possible way we could spend more time together.'

'I can think of one,' Tom said and Hal wondered for a moment if Tom had had the same notion he had; an image of them wrapped together in sweat drenched sheets. 'When you're reading one of ya boring books.'

'Oh,' Hal said. He supposed it was probably for the best. He imagined if they did ever find themselves in that situation, they'd probably both be covered in blood, Tom dying through the bite marks in his neck, Hal from the poison he'd been unable to stop himself from tasting. 'To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die,' he murmured. A human's ears would not have picked up on the sound, he'd almost forgotten that his companion had the ears of a wolf.

'Wha?' Tom frowned.

'Books are not boring,' Hal said quickly. 'Perhaps if you read one, once in a while, you'd be less inclined to spend time with me.'

'But I already said … I like tha.'

'Yes,' Hal nodded.

'And if you won't spend time with me when you're reading, well….' Tom seemed suddenly embarrassed. An expression which seemed odd on a boy who never seemed to fazed by anything. 'I can think of a different time when we could be together?'

'Oh?' Hal asked, getting to his feet with the intention of clearing the table. This conversation was beginning to go around in circles and Hal couldn't help but feel that Annie was listening to every word. He wasn't stupid. He'd known what she was implying with her questions earlier. She'd been implying that he and Tom were closer than mere friends. Perhaps that was accurate, but it was a purely brotherly affection he had for the boy. He ignored his own mind mocking with the images he'd conjured up just seconds before of himself and Tom in a post-coital bliss.

'The only other time is at night.'

The words had come out of nowhere, like stakes from each side straight through Hal and he dropped the plates he'd been carrying.

'Hal,' Tom frowned, rushing to his side and putting his strong hand on the small of Hal's back. 'You alright Hal.'

'Don't touch me,' Hal hissed, shaking him off. 'I'm fine, just a little … clumsy.'

'Ya never clumsy,' Tom said, reaching to touch him again. 'An' ya look really white.'

'Well I am dead, Tom.'

'Yeah bu-'

'Look at the floor,' Hal said suddenly as though noticing the mess for the first time. He began to pant. He was completely out of control. Tom was getting too close, making him feel things he couldn't afford to feel, the sort of things that could get them both killed and would put the whole of Barry, Britain, maybe the world in danger. The mess on the floor was serving like a metaphor of how his life was falling apart.

'I have to go,' he said quickly. 'To my room. I need to….' He left that hang in the air and rushed away to his room.

His room was cool and calm. Everything was in it's place, his bed was neatly made, the books were aligned in alphabetical order; first author, then title. There was nothing to remind him of the chaos downstairs or the chaos in his mind. He sat on his sofa and pulled his trusty domino from his pocket, twirling it gently between his fingers.

Slowly, his breathing returned to normal.

'I'm in control,' he reminded himself. He just needed to glance around his perfectly ordered room to see that. 'I _am _in control of my hunger and my … _lust._' He hissed the last word as though it was poisoned and perhaps it was in a way. Especially if his lust was misdirected as it was now, this desire could quite literally poison him.

'Hal,' Tom's voice called through the door and Hal felt sick at the prospect of him entering his room. It had only been half-an-hour since the incident but he'd already began to feel better.

'What is it Tom?'

'I just wanted to know if ya were alright. You seemed a bit … weird earlier.'

Hal winced a bit at the word "weird" but he let it go. 'I'm quite well now, thank you.'

'Hal, can ya open the door?' Hal ignored the request until: 'Please.'

Hal sighed a little, gripped the domino in his hand and went to open the door.

'Hi,' Tom smiled as he was revealed. He was wearing his dopey face of concern, his eyebrows slanting even more than usual.

'Hello,' Hal answered as curtly as possible.

'Look, I wanted to say sorry righ' It was Annie's idea really. She said that you were…. It don't matter anyhow. All I want to say is sorry for making you drop those plates and tha'.' He turned quickly and Hal was sure it was for the best to let him go. If he just let him walk away they could both go to sleep and wake-up tomorrow as though nothing had ever been said, or hinted at, or fantasised. But he couldn't. He just couldn't let him walk away.

'Tom,' he called. The young man turned back to him.

'Wha?'

'What did Annie say?'

'Just that she thought I liked ya, and that she thought ya like me. But she was wrong so….'

'I do like you Tom,' Hal said smoothly and firmly.

'Yeah. I kna. But … like, more than…. Ah, I dunna.' He shrugged awkwardly. 'Annie got it wrong.'

'No,' Hal shook his head, stepping out of his room so that they were both stood in the corridor. 'I like you Tom.'

'Wha? Ya mean … like-like?'

'If that's how you wish to put it,' Hal sighed, walking the distance between them. 'Then yes.; like-like.'

'Nah, coz you see the thing is righ….' But Tom never got to say what the thing was because Hal had already closed the gap, capturing Tom's lips and silencing his tongue.

'YES!' The cry of excitement made the two men leap apart. Hal peered over his shoulder to glare at the direction the cheer had come from.

'Show yourself Annie,' he said sternly and she appeared looking sheepish, and digging her toe into the carpet.

'Sorry,' she said but she didn't look sorry. She looked delighted.

'I'm sure,' Hal frowned. 'Now scram, this is private.'

'Not in the corridor, it isn't.' Annie beamed.

'Fine,' Hal said, grabbing Tom's arm and dragging him into his room. 'Keep out Annie,' he scowled, slamming the door behind him and pulling Tom towards him. Now he'd tasted him, he couldn't get enough. It was like a whole fresh new addiction … or the re-emergence of another one. He felt the passion, the lust build up inside him. He felt the desire grow and the white hot pain in his head began to splinter. He needed it more than anything in the world. He could feel his eyes closing, a hundred and one images flashed before them, not all of them good. He was losing his cool. He wasn't just kissing Tom, he was kissing every single conquest he'd ever had.

He felt himself being roughly pushed in the chest and he felt the bed against the back of his knees and he fell back awkwardly.

'Come,' he whispered, but the body that he'd expected to fall with him.

'Hal,' he heard Tom say. 'Ya eyes Hal. They're all….'

He could feel it suddenly. The pull of reality fighting within him. Part of him was still craving this. Whatever sticky end it lead to, he wanted it. The sex, the passion, the blood, the lust.

'To die at your side well the pleasure, the privilege is mine.'

'Hal!'

He snapped out of it. His vision cleared and he could see Tom looking at him. The young man looked anxious, he was holding a stake in his hand and there was something akin to fear in his eyes. Hal knew Tom wasn't scared of him, more at the thought that he might have had to kill him.

'Shit!' Hal yelled, punching the mattress with his fist. 'I'm sorry,' he jumped quickly to his feet. 'I'm so very sorry,' he repeated, fumbling around for a jacket and keys. 'I should…. Yes.'

And with that, he disappeared from the room, down the stairs and out the front door. He didn't look back; not when he heard Tom's broken voice call his name, not when he heard Annie, not even when he could sense Tom watching him from the window. He had to get away from that house … now!

'What happened?' Annie asked, appearing beside Hal, practically running to keep up with his brisk walking pace.

'I can't do it.'

'Yes you've can, you've done it loads of times.'

'Not like this, it's different.'

'Because he's a man?'

'No be so idiotic. I can't afford to lose control around him,' Hal spat back. 'If I do, we're both dead Annie. Good luck trying to keep hold of the baby when everyone thinks her guardians are dead. I can see the papers now,' he muttered more to himself than Annie. 'Gay suicide pact leaves baby orphaned. Or perhaps they'd think we were murdered. It might certainly look that way. Or perhaps….'

'You're over thinking it,' Annie said. 'You two need to take it slow, that's all.'

'I'll ask you kindly to shut up,' Hal said. 'You've caused enough trouble, if you hadn't planted the thought in our heads it would never have happened. Tom would never have looked at me if you hadn't been whispering in his ear and I wouldn't have noticed him if you hadn't….' He trailed off, not really sure what he was trying to accuse her of.

'That's not true. You'd have got there eventually, I just gave you a little … nudge.'

'It feels more like you shoved us off a cliff.'

'I wouldn't say….'

'The freefall was fine,' Hal continued. 'A thrill perhaps, it's the moment of impact I'm worried about. The point where I lose control.' He stopped suddenly and stared straight at Annie. He was aware of the old couple stood on the street opposite who were pretending not to stare at him but he didn't care. This was important, it had to be said, onlookers be damned.

'You understand, of course, that I can't come back,' he said firmly.

'Oh Hal.'

'Don't,' he said. 'You know the reasons Annie. I can't trust myself to be around him.'

'Hal, you don't have to….'

'No, it's safer this way.'

'But where will you go?'

'I'll find somewhere,' Hal said. 'You don't live this long without making some friends.'

'What kind of friends?'

'The kind you might not approve of,' Hal sighed. 'But I will be in control,' he promised.

'You don't know that Hal. You don't know that you can control it,' Annie was almost in tears, her voice louder and more distressed by the second and Hal half expected the nosy old couple to hear her.

'Even more imperative that I leave then,' Hal said, and he turned away from her and continued to walk. He'd walk forever if he had to. He had charm, he had wit, he had a infinite knowledge of people; he could meet new friends find a new 'family' to settle down with, somewhere far away from Barry.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up in the next few days!<strong>


	2. Eloisa

**No Tom or Annie in this chapter. The next chapter (and final) will be up tomorrow and will include them both. In this one, Hal seeks help about Tom from a trusted friend.**

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><p>Hal stared at the mantelpiece. It was filled with photos of an old woman and her wheelchair-bound husband. The photos were clearly a few years old, the fashion and quality of the image would suggest the early 90's. It was sweet, Hal supposed, just like all the houses of old people.<p>

'I have to say,' a croaky, old woman said, shuffling into the room with a mug of tea. 'I am shocked to see you again, Harry.'

'It's Hal now.'

'Hal,' she repeated with a slight chuckle.

'A good shock?' he asked, sipping the tea. It was a little too sweet for him but he smiled his thanks.

'No shock's are good with a ticker like mine,' she chuckled, sitting her frail body into the chair opposite. She moved like everything was a struggle and Hal could practically see her life trickling from her. He had no desire to hurt her, he had no need to bite or drink her blood. Her heartbeat was practically nonexistent, he couldn't hear the blood rushing around her body or pulsing at her neck, there was a weird kind of peace.

'So what brings you here, eh? Business? I suppose,' she smiled knowingly over her glasses. He wasn't sure why she wore them, she was practically blind even with frames, she had a hearing-aid too. She was dying, Hal knew that. Each part of her body failing, one after the other. 'It's always business where your concerned, Hal.'

'I am very busy,' Hal nodded, joining the lie easily.

'And you never seem to age a day,' she continued with their set little dialogue.

'Good moisturiser,' he smiled.

She ignored his obvious oddities and didn't ask questions. Hal knew she had a fair idea of what he was but she ignored it. In return, although she didn't realise it, she lived in the safest house in Britain. She was completely protected from all things Vampire, Hal had seen to that. Her ancestral home was as toxic as a church but not to Hal, he was able to bare it for reasons he'd only ever explained to her in stories, when she was a child.

'So,' she said, stirring her tea. 'You need a place to stay?'

'Just for a while,' Hal nodded. It was strange being back here. He hadn't asked Eloisa for a room for almost sixty years and whenever he had, it was because he was fresh from a kill. He'd usually arrive covered in blood and full of remorse.

'You always say that,' she said, a twinkle in her green eyes. The eyes were the only thing about her that had remained the same. Her skin had stretched and wrinkled, her frame had contorted and hunched but her eyes had always kept their sparkle of youth.

'You've not been in a fight this time,' she said, showing him to his room. The books on the shelf weren't alphabetically organised, there was dust in the corners, the clocks weren't all reading the same time to the second and the pencils were all different lengths. Hal was sure these discrepancies would occupy some of his time and once he'd finished that, he could begin organising the rest of the house. The important thing was to stop himself from becoming bored, keep busy, keep active.

'Sorry?' he asked, clearly confused by her statement.

'I only meant your clothes,' she raised her thin arm with it's papery-skin and pointed to his shirt. 'There's no blood; no fight.'

'No,' he shook his head. 'It was more….' He trailed off.

'I know that expression,' she said wistfully, stroking his face. Her hand felt cold on his skin which was strange because human's usually felt warm, even in the coldest winter. 'You're forlorn.'

'I am not forlorn,' he retorted, though he couldn't help think that he probably was.

'Love-sick,' Eloisa claimed, looking deep into his eyes. 'I think a pretty girl's captured your heart and she's said she's not interested.'

'You couldn't be more wrong,' Hal said confidently.

'Alright then,' she frowned, removing her hand from his face. 'A young man and you've had to leave him because you're worried you might hurt him.'

Hal just stared ahead at her. He looked over her again and sniffed gently at the air surrounding her. His lips drew into a tight line and he sighed heavily.

'When?' was all he asked.

'Six months ago,' she said wistfully.

'And you've been watching me, this entire time?'

'Like a guardian angel.'

'Hmm,' Hal frowned. His privacy felt invaded. 'How did it happen?'

'Just did,' she shrugged easily. 'I'm old now Hal.'

'You're not old,' Hal said quickly.

'Ninety-three is a long life.'

'Not to me.'

'I was happy with it,' she said.

'Then why are you still here? You must have something that's unfinished.'

'I do,' she nodded. 'But now's not the time. You need to get some rest. Tomorrow, no doubt, you'll want to tidy but I will make you tell me about young Tom McNair.'

Hal winced visibly at the sound of his name. It sounded odd in Eloisa's soft Manchester lilt. He'd only ever heard Tom say it before and on his lips it sounded like a strange mixture of horror and perfection. He supposed that was what Tom was though. A strange mixture of innocence and beauty with danger and murder. He yawned gently.

'Bed,' Eloisa commanded. Hal thought for a moment about protesting his age, telling her he was _not _a child, certainly not her child and that he did _not _obey orders but bed seemed like a good idea now, so he went along with it.

Bed might have seemed like a good idea, but it turned out it wasn't a particularly practical one. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Tom's dopey face gazing back at him, looking hurt and confused as Hal ran away. The little sleep he had was serving as a reminder of what might have happened between him and Tom if only he'd been less weak. He woke with a start every few hours sweating and panting and with only one name on his lips.

This was worse than the guilt he felt after feeding. He'd learnt how to cope with that, but this was new … at least it was in this existence. He might have loved when he was flesh and blood and organs but he could barely remember that time anymore. He hadn't felt like this about anyone for a long, long time and it was terrifying him. But more than that, it annoyed him because, of all the people he'd encountered; why, oh why, did it have to be Tom McNair?

He finally gave up entirely on sleep by six am and ventured downstairs. Eloisa had made him a cup of tea, which was sat on the little cabinet in her sitting room.

'It's for you,' she said, nodding towards it gently. She'd put the news on and was watching intently, as though current affairs might be a problem for the dead.

'Did you have a family?' Hal asked, sipping at his tea.

'No, not me,' she sighed a little sadly. 'Couldn't really settle down after my Albi.' She looked lovingly to the photos on the mantelpiece.

'Albert hated to be called that.'

'Only in public,' Eloise smiled wistfully.

Hal said nothing. He couldn't really comment on what Albert did and didn't like. He hadn't seen either of them for over fifty years, not since Leo had suggested that being around people was bad for him.

'I should have visited more,' he said quietly.

'You won't get an argument from me on that score,' Eloise said a little angrily, but she was smiling. 'I understand why though … of course. But to miss the wedding of your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great…'

'I get the picture.'

'… great, great, granddaughter.' She chuckled and he squirmed. 'It's just unforgivable.'

'I was in a bad place when you got married,' he said honestly. Thinking back to the post-war withdrawal he'd suffered from. It had been easy during the war. The battlefield was like a free-for-all, a banquet of blood. No one would notice another missing body and Hal had made it his British-duty to fixate mainly on the Nazi soldiers. But in 1945 when the war had ended, his blood-lust was at it's highest and he was feeding on everyone he saw even children. He shuddered as he remembered one particular girl, she'd just been playing in the park and he'd…. He shook his head. 'Chances are you would have been the only one I didn't kill. Besides, I couldn't have gone to the ceremony. If I recall, you held it in a church.'

'That wouldn't bother you,' Eloisa said knowingly. 'You went to my mother's funeral.'

'I was ill for days after,' Hal said. It was a sort of truth. He'd been very weak and Leo had had to help him get back to health. 'But I shan't need to visit a church again. As you were last of my direct bloodline, the last scrap of my humanity.'

'That's not true,' Eloisa said, with the wisdom of an old woman. 'There's always love, that's the most basic element of humanity. And that comes from inside you.'

'I'm incapable of feeling it,' Hal said sternly.

'Hmm,' Eloise just frowned and looked back to the television.

She was silent for a moment, just taking in the words of the newscaster, more depressing stuff about the lack of money in the world. The silence felt somehow awkward as it enveloped Hal. He'd never been one to shy away from a silence. He enjoyed them, revelled in how uncomfortable they seemed to make everyone else but right now, he was feeling the pressure of it. He wasn't in control of this silence, the werewolf in the room, the un-uttered name was something he feared. He tried to relax but which ever way he crossed his legs, it felt awkward.

'You seem a bit … edgy,' Eloise noted eventually.

'I'm fine.'

'You seem tired too.'

'New bed.'

'You're over half a millennium old. New beds aren't something that bother you.'

'New surroundings then,' Hal said, hoping that would be the end of the interrogation, and it was … for half a second. Then Eloise said:

'He's a little young for you, isn't he?'

Hal just stared at her, not sure how to answer that question. He opted for:

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Tom.' Hal's whole body tensed at the sound of that name. 'He's only twenty.'

'Twenty-one,' Hal corrected quickly, as though that singular year mattered when he had been alive for over five-hundred.

'Twenty-one,' Eloise repeated with a bit of contented smile. 'It's still too young. You've probably made the right decision to leave.'

'Most things on this planet are too young for me,' Hal snapped defensively. 'Ellie, you are too young. Age is not the problem. And it's not that he's a werewolf or even that he needs help to read the word "emotional" and is thoroughly incapable of making and 'ow' noise. It's more that….' He stopped. Took a deep breath: 'Tom is….' He looked up at Eloisa and sighed heavily. 'I don't know what Tom is.'

'I do,' the ghost grinned and if Hal didn't know any better, he'd swear she had a tear in her eye.

'What then?'

'He's worth fighting me for.' Eloisa looked delighted. 'You care about him Hal.'

'Yes, as a friend.'

'No, as more than that.'

'I don't….'

'Stop,' the ghost begged. 'Just listen.' She reached out a weathered hand to touch his face. It was cool against the warmth of his embarrassed cheeks. 'It's okay to be scared.'

'I'm not…'

'Listen.' She warned. 'Being scared is probably a good thing. It will stop you doing something stupid. It'll stop you hurting him.'

'I could never….'

'Yes you could,' Eloisa said carefully. 'You could hurt him. You could kill him … easily, if you wanted to. But you won't.'

'You sound so certain.'

'You never hurt me.'

'You were family.'

'So is Tom.'

Hal closed his eyes for a moment. He needed to regain his thoughts. 'I can't control myself around him,' he whispered. 'He makes me….'

'I know,' she repeated in the same tone. 'But that's good, don't you see?'

'I don't see how….'

'Hal, I'm dead.' He winced, he was still pretending that that wasn't true. It was easy when she was holding his hand. 'And when I've gone, I want to know that you've got someone to turn to, someone to call family, someone to love.'

Suddenly, a key turned in the lock and Eloisa jumped to her feet.

'You have to hide,' she hissed, pulling him, with surprising strength, to his feet.

'What?'

'Just hide!' She shoved him in the direction of a cupboard and he obeyed easily, leaving the door open a crack so he could peer through.

Three people walked into the room. A man in a suit, wearing lots of cheap cologne and a tacky smile. He had the smarmy charm of what could only be an estate agent.

'Excellent little house for a young couple,' he was saying. And, from the looks on the faces of the young couple, his spiel was obviously working. 'A good amount of space too, for when the little one comes,' the estate agent patted the girls protruding tummy.

'I'm not pregnant,' she muttered. And Hal couldn't help but smirk as the estate agent began to babble:

'No, of course not. I just meant, in the future. _If _you ever decide to….'

'So what's wrong with it?' the young man cut in before the estate agent had chance to ram his foot any further down his own throat.

'Er, I'm sorry?' the estate agent pulled at his collar awkwardly.

'Good location, good space, good garden but it's on the market for half the price of the surrounding properties. There has to be something wrong; damp, unexploded bomb in the garden, poor foundations? Come on, what's wrong with it?'

'Nothing,' the estate agent insisted but Hal could hear his heartbeat quicken and could smell the sweat begin to pour from him.

His vantage point was quite poor for the next bit. All he could see was the horror on the young couples' faces as they began to back slowly towards the door. Hal frowned. He couldn't imagine what they were possibly seeing and then he heard Eloisa's voice:

'Oooooooooo,' she was mumbling. 'Oooooooo.'

Hal assumed she couldn't help herself. They both knew full-well that the couple wouldn't be able to hear her. They could, however see Hal's own tea cup floating in space, followed by a book flying off a shelf and the lights suddenly flicking on and off.

The scream as the couple sprinted from the house was deafening. And Hal could see the angre on the estate agent's face as he stood in the room alone.

'Hooligans,' he muttered. And then louder: 'I will find out who you are! And I will have you arrested!'

'Good luck with that,' Eloisa grinned, standing right in front of him and then beaming over at Hal, who was still hidden.

'I have CCTV in this house you know,' the estate agent shouted again. 'It'll be very _interesting_ to see your faces.' He walked out of Hal's view, but Hal could hear him sit on the arm chair and the noise of static, meant he was fiddling with the television. Hal could hear the whirring of a video being rewound and then the slight fizz of the machine on pause.

'You should come out,' the estate agent shouted. 'You might want to see yourself on the small screen. Your cinematic debut.'

He must have pressed play as the fizz become more of a buzz. He was still shouting obtuse things about this 'being like a soap opera' and 'how he was sad they couldn't be there for the big reveal' but as the video played, his taunts became quieter and quieter until they fell into silence.

'God have mercy,' he whispered under his breath. 'It's the devil at play.'

And next second, the estate agent ran from the room and out of the house, knocking lights, chairs and pictures over as he went.

Hal swung the door of his cupboard open and fixed Eloisa with a serious expression. Not that she would notice, she was doubled up with laughter.

'You give ghosts a bad reputation,' he said.

'You give vampire's a bad reputation,' she retorted jovially. 'All this abstinence from blood.'

'I like to think so,' Hal nodded. 'He'll come back. He thinks there are ghosts here, he'll be back.'

'No he won't. I've got my house back.'

'No,' Hal said firmly. 'He'll be back with a man of God and he will open up a door for you and you will go through it, even though you won't want to. Even though you'll end up in the wrong place. We have to leave, so you can complete your unfinished business and go through your right door.'

'But where will we go?'

'I can think of a place,' Hal said.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Last chapter's up tomorrow.<strong>


	3. Humanity in the Heart of a Werewolf

Hal stared up at the bed and breakfast, with its tacky sign and ugly yellow and green awnings over the windows. He didn't want to step back inside. He could smell wolf from the car. He could smell that it was Tom and it made his stomach tight with nerves. He pulled his gaze away from the building and stared instead at his own hands, which were gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles had turned white.

'Come on,' Eloisa said, tugging at his sleeve. 'Let's go in.'

'I can't,' he said softly, not taking his eyes off his hands. 'You go in. Tell them I sent you, Annie will let you stay. Her house is open to anyone … almost anyone.'

'I'm not going in on my own,' Eloisa frowned. 'I never thought I'd see the day … Harry, scared.'

'I'm not scared.'

'Scared,' she practically sung, getting awkwardly out of the car and walking towards the house. The door was open before she'd made it to the front step and Tom was playing Annie's mouthpiece as was the customary greeting at Honolulu Heights.

Hal watched on, his breathing catching in his throat as he watched Tom, his awkward arm movements because he never seemed to bend his elbow. He stepped aside to show Eloisa in, in a sort of robotic way, everything he did was a small kind of adorable, Hal thought. And, as though they'd heard his thoughts, Eloisa and Tom were looking directly in Hal's direction. He slumped immediately, trying to hide behind his steering wheel. He knew it was useless, he was easily visible but that didn't stop him "hiding".

He didn't even stop when Tom was banging on the window with his fist and asking what he was doing.

'Hal,' he called. Hal always thought his name sounded funny in Tom's accent, like the 'L' was somehow stuck in his throat.

'Hal. What're ya doing?'

'Learning how steering wheels work,' Hal answered, his words dripping with sarcasm, though he sort of hoped Tom might be gullible enough to believe the ridiculous lie.

'Well, ya can stop now. Come inside, Annie's made tea.'

'I'm sure she has,' Hal muttered. He hadn't looked up yet, he was still uncomfortably wedged between steering wheel and chair, his chin on his neck at an awkward angle.

'Are you stuck?' Tom asked suddenly. Hal wasn't actually sure of the answer to that question, so he didn't bother to give one. 'I think we need to talk,' Tom continued. It was a bit out of the blue and Hal could tell by the tone of his voice that he was regurgitating someone else's opinion; Annie's probably.

'We do?' Hal asked, finally trying to wriggle free of his trap. He didn't really want to have to ask for help.

'Yeah. Abou' wha' happened?'

'Right,' Hal managed to dislodge himself and push himself, in a horribly undignified way, back onto the seat. 'Why?'

'I dunna,' Tom shrugged honestly. 'Annie said it would help.'

'Did she?' Hal frowned.. He was becoming a bit fed-up with Annie's interference. He wished she could have just kept out of it, all of it.

'Look Hal, I like ya. Really like ya.' Hal allowed his head to flop onto the steering wheel. It was hard to hear things like this from Tom. It made his blood pump faster, his heart beat quicker, his lust build, his vampire instincts take over. 'And when Annie found out, she said I should tell ya right. So I did.' He paused, as though expecting Hal to say something back. Hal had nothing to say. 'I think ya like me too,' he continued but he was less confident now; less scripted. Hal noticed the old couple who'd witnessed him yelling at thin-air the night before were just down the street watching this new display. He imagined they thought he was mental. He didn't care, besides he probably was.

'I mean, I hope ya do because….' Tom trailed off and Hal thought he'd probably just run out of words. 'Thing is Hal, I like ya and I know I've never … with anyone and I know I said that virginity was a flower and all tha' but thing is I'd like it to….' Hal glanced up at him for the first time since this conversation had began. 'With ya,' Tom confirmed, touching the car window. Hal stared at Tom's fingertips where they was touching the glass. The first thing he thought of was oily prints on the glass, the second was how totally open and honest Tom was being and how much of a dickhead he was being himself. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted Tom, but right now all of that uncontrollable need was, at least partially, controlled. He wondered for a moment if that was good sign, perhaps he could control himself. Perhaps if….

'Move,' he demanded, and Tom jumped back from the car so that Hal could get out. 'Come with me,' he urged, holding onto Tom's wrist and dragging him towards the house.

'What'll the neighbours think?' Tom said, nodding to the old couple as Hal dragged him towards the house.

'They already think we're a couple, raising a baby,' Hal said. 'They can't see Annie so … it's the only conclusion.'

Hal was aware of the shared look of anxious-delight on Eloisa and Annie's faces, as he came through the front door and straight up the stairs Tom being dragged behind him. He didn't bother to reply to Annie's smug:

'Back so soon, Hal?'

'We have to take this slow,' Hal said, walking down the corridor. 'Really slow or….'

'I kna the risks,' Tom said. It wasn't the first time one of Hal's lovers had said something like that but it was the first time he'd truly believed them.

'Your room,' Hal said firmly.

'What?'

'It has to be your room.'

'But my room's a mess, ya won't even like walk in there withaht a hanky over your face usually.' 'Exactly,' Hal said. 'If I'm always thinking about the mess then….' He pulled Tom towards him suddenly, so they were breathing the same air. 'This.'

He kissed him easily, over-powering him and Tom's inexperience allowed him to be led. Hal felt oddly powerful, perhaps a little too powerful. He slid his hands to trace Tom's scars on his head, they would always remind him of just how dangerous Tom could be.

'My room,' Tom nodded when they pulled apart, dragging Hal into his bedroom quickly.

The room was filthy and if Tom wasn't kissing his neck, and fumbling in an unpractised way with his buttons, Hal would have probably been forced to start organising, starting with the collage on Tom's wall. There were pictures _overlapping _other, actually _overlapping_! He twitched a little with need to fix it.

'Ya alrigh?' Tom asked.

'Yes,' Hal hissed. 'Don't stop. Wait,' Hal slapped the younger man's hands away from his shirt buttons where Tom was being a little too clumsy. 'Stop that,' he said. 'You'll make me lose a button soon and that will be a shirt ruined.'

'You can sew buttons back on.'

'But the stitching is always different,' Hal insisted beginning to unbutton his shirt easily.

'No one will notice.'

'I will.'

'I wear shirts with one button missing sometimes, no one will notice,' Tom announced.

'I will,' Hall hissed. He felt a little sick at Tom's revelation and his eyes closed, he had to get that image out of his head, a shirt missing a button was just too much. Luckily, once he'd opened his eyes, Tom had ripped his shirt off over his head and Hal forgot all about buttons and his own shirt slid to the floor without another thought for its welfare.

**:: Next bit's a bit M-ish jump to the next break if you don't want to read ::**

Naked Tom wasn't exactly a new sight for Hal. Tom often walked around in just his pants and on the occasions when Annie wasn't around, he'd just walk about in the nude: 'Good for ya ta let everythin' get aired, McNair said. Not in front of a lady though, that's why I dan't do it when Annie's around.' 'I wish you wouldn't do it at all,' Hal had replied and he'd meant it at the time because that naked-Tom wasn't this naked-Tom.

That naked version of Tom hadn't been led on a bed looking nervous and virginal. That naked-Tom's lips hadn't been red and plump from kissing.

'You alrigh Hal?' Tom asked. 'Your eyes look funny?'

Hal panicked: 'then I had better leave.'

'Nah, they ain't black,' Tom gabbled quickly. 'Just incense.'

'Intense,' Hal corrected, glad of that mistake, it was something for him to focus on as he joined Tom on the bed and kissed him deeply. There were no words after that.

Hal was lost in sensation. Sex was like returning to an old drug-addiction and he could feel himself on so many occasions almost losing it. With every groan and moan, he'd focus on the slat of the blind that was slightly askew, or the CD's scattered on the floor no where near their appropriate cases, or the coins which were tossed casually on the bedside table, or the rucked up carpet in the corner of the room, or the piles of clothes, or the corner of the mattress that was now visible where the bed sheet had shifted.

It was as though 55 years of need and 500 years of hurt poured out of him at once, he tensed and shook and kissed and loved.

**:: End of M-ish bit ::**

'That was good, wasn't it?' Tom asked, rolling suddenly onto his stomach and lolling his head on Hal's chest. 'I mean, it felt good I just…. I don't know, do I?'

'It was good,' Hal nodded. He was tired, far too tired to worry anymore about all the mess in Tom's room that he'd been trying so hard to focus on just moments ago.

'Are ya alright?' Tom asked. 'Ya seem quiet.'

'I'm not really sure what to do now,' Hal said honestly. 'It's been a long time since I haven't eaten my bedfellow.'

'I feel special.'

'You are,' Hal whispered, his arm snaking around Tom's shoulder and pulling him closer as he strained to kiss the top of his head. 'Are you alright?' he asked after a moment or two. 'I didn't hurt you.'

'Nah, I'd have stopped ya if you had.'

'You could hardly have stopped me,' Hal said. 'Not when we were…. I was barely conscious of … anything.'

'But ya kept saying ma name.'

Hal said nothing. He wasn't really sure how to respond to that. It was a surprise, that was for sure. He'd been trying so hard to think of anything but Tom. He hadn't felt his eyes go black but they might have, though he imagined that was the sort of thing Tom might have mentioned by now. He sighed contentedly. He'd managed it and perhaps it would get easier the more they did it, if they did it … again.

'HAL!' Annie's scream woke him from his fantasy. 'Hal! Quick!' He leapt out of bed, pulled on some trousers and ran down stairs. He could hear that Tom wasn't far behind him but that wasn't his main concern. He came flying into the sitting room where Annie was stood next to Eloisa.

'Annie, what is it? What's wrong?'

Annie just pointed to the double door which led to the kitchen. Hal turned to peer at it too. It had changed. It had become a glamorous, old double door, it looked heavy as though it were made of old oak and the bolts were iron. It was the sort of thing you'd find at the entrance to a castle.

'Only the best,' Eloisa smiled at his confusion. 'For the last in the bloodline of the great Lord Henry Yorke, only the best.'

'Ellie,' he whispered, running to her and hugging her tight. 'Your unfinished business,' he said eventually, holding her at arm's length. 'What was it?'

'To make sure you had a family to look after you and someone for you to love.' She smiled over his shoulder and he followed her gaze to see Tom stood a bit sheepishly by the bar. He'd found time to pull on his vest as well as his cargo shorts, and Hal felt strangely glad about that. It would be a bit awkward at this point if they were both stripped to the waist.

'You've got love here,' Eloisa smiled, her hands touching his cheeks, holding him so she could kiss him on forehead. 'Remember what's important, Hal. Remember where your humanity lies.'

'Ironically, it's in the heart of a werewolf,' Hal muttered, so that only Eloisa could hear.

'Well, you never did anything by the book.'

They heard Annie cough gently.

'Eloisa,' she said, pulling the old woman away. 'It's time to go.'

Eloisa nodded and smiling gratefully, she walked towards the door and just as she was about to step through she said:

'Look after each other … all of you.'

The door shut behind her and Hal felt somehow empty inside. His arms felt heavy, his legs felt stuck. Eloisa was gone, his last blood-link with this earth was finished, unless you counted all the Vampires he'd created … he didn't.

'Are you alright Hal?' he heard Annie ask softly, as Tom's chin came to rest on his shoulder from behind, his arms snaking comfortingly around Hal's waste.

'I'm okay,' Hal nodded, his hands clutching at Tom's clasped hands. 'Why is it that everyone who is important to me, who comes to this house ends up walking through a door?'

'They find themselves here,' Annie said calmly. 'You've found yourself here too,' she reminded him, touching his shoulder gently. 'If you were a ghost, you'd have walked through your door by now.'

Hal turned his head so that his nose almost bumped with Tom's.

'I suppose you're right,' he nodded, twisting their position so he could kiss him on the corner of the mouth. Then they stepped apart with only their hands still clasped.

'I guess that's the problem with being a vampire,' Tom said thoughtfully. 'Ya always outlive everybody who matters.'

Hal just stared at the younger man incredulously.

'Wha?' Tom asked, blushing a little and squirming as though uncomfortable under Hal's gaze.

'I think that's the wisest thing you've ever said,' he smiled.

'Dickhead,' Tom muttered.

'Oh thank goodness,' Hal mocked. 'I was worried for a moment that you'd become an intellectual.'

'Annie,' Tom turned to the ghost expectantly. 'Tell him not ta be horrible.'

'Don't include me in your domestics,' Annie said, holding her hands up.

'But just tell him not to be mean.'

'And tell him,' Hal said, 'not to be so sensitive.'

'I'm not sensitive,' Tom protested.

'Oh, is that baby Eve crying?' Annie asked, holding her hand to her ear. The pause brought only silence, but that didn't stop her. 'Yes, I believe it is. I'd better go and see to her.'

'The baby's not making any noise Annie,' Hal said. 'Stop trying to avoid the matter at hand.'

'And what is that?'

'That's he's a dickhead.' / 'He's a Neanderthal,' were the simultaneous responses.

'Boys,' she said, shaking her head. 'I'm sure you'll find a way to kiss and make-up.' And with that she disappeared.

'Can you believe it?' Hal said angrily. 'The cheek of her just disappearing like…. What?' he asked, spotting the strange expression on Tom's face.

'Nout,' the younger man said.

'Nothing,' he corrected.

'Exactly.'

'No, I meant…. Never mind. Why are you looking at me like that?'

'Like what?' Tom asked, stepping closer and tilting his head slightly to one side. He looked sort of demented especially with his eyes so focused and unblinking.

'If this is meant to sexy, I can assure you, it's not working.'

'Really?'

And the answer to that was made very clear when their lips met and they began making-out like horny teenagers.

'Honestly, I can't leave you two alone for five minutes,' Annie admonished with a smile. They hardly stopped kissing for Hal to say:

'So it would seem.'

'Urgh,' she giggled childishly. 'Get a room.'

They parted then. 'What do you say?' Hal asked Tom.

'Come on,' he grinned, dragging him towards the stairs. 'Let's go.'

He didn't need to be asked twice and they rushed away from her again. He could hear Annie sigh happily and he could sense that things were going to change from now on but he was worried. He'd allowed himself to develop a weakness, several weaknesses. If anyone threatened Eve or Annie, he'd be weak and if they threatened Tom he'd be virtually powerless. He just hoped that the old one's wouldn't hear about this relationship. He knew he and Tom would be blacklisted even more so than they already were. A vampire and werewolf together, lovers, it wouldn't sit well with the Vampiric old ones or the Lycanthrope old ones. He and Tom would have to be culled and he didn't doubt that the old ones would be more than happy to oblige but those fears could wait until the morning, for now Hal was just going to allow himself to be blissfully happy … just for a short while.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to all of you who've read, reviewed and favourite-ed this story! It's all very much appreciated!<strong>

**Sisi…xx**

**A/N: So I'm thinking of maybe writing a sequel, which will include the consequences of the imminent exorcism that's going to take place at Hal/ Eloisa's ancestral home and the arrival of Hal's maker (as well as ALL the old ones) after the relationship between Hal and Tom is discovered. It will depend on the reaction to this fic and also - probably more so - on how much time I've got, which isn't a lot at the moment.**


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